Gran Paradiso - Day 4

Today we hiked from Bivacco Giraudo (2620m) to Bivacco Ivrea (2745m). From the bivouac the path first led us down a rock step before it got rather flat for the next kilometers. We hiked through wonderful mountain meadows which were in full blossom.

Before arriving at Casa di Caccia (a former royal hunting hut) we had to get up a small rock step (2222m).

View of Casa di Caccia

From there the path became increasinly steep and led us to Bochetta del Ges (2692m). Multiple times on our way up we had to climb over stone blocks and it took us a while until we reached Vallone di Noaschetta.

Creeks in turquois color meander through Vallone Noaschetta and we saw the jagged rock formations of Tre Becchi.

Tre Becchi (on the right)













From there we had to get over another rock step before we arrived at Bivacco Ivrea which is located on top of a moraine hill. Today temperature were a bit cooler than the previous day. Thus, we all decided to spend this night in the bivouac.

Gran Paradiso - Day 3

Our today's hike went from Rifugio Chivasso to Bivacco Giraudo. From Rifugio Chivasso (2604m) we hiked down the pass road in south eastern direction until we reached a small lake.
























From there we hiked along a narrow path in an easterly direction, first rather flat, later on increasingly steep to Col della Terra (2911m).





































































































From there we could see Lago Lillet (2765m) with its beautiful turquois color.



















After having a short rest we continued down to the lake. Matthias and Andi were brave enough to go for a swim in the lake, while the rest of us prefered to stay outside. From the lake the path ascended to the second pass we had to cross on this day.















On the way down we had to hike through pathless terrain and along a large snow field and huge stone blocks, which was quite challenging with our heavy backpacks.




































After a while we reached a terrasse with several small lakes where we had a rest before hiking (again through pathless terraine) to the terrasse where Bivacco Giraudo is located.













When we arrived there we checked out the bivouac (which offers room for 6 persons) and relaxed in the sun. After a while a German couple and their son arrived and got a bit dissapointed when they realized that the bivouac is already full and that they lack the necessary equipment to sleep outside. Since the weather looked good we left them the bivouac and decided to sleep outside.

























While we relaxed in the sun, Matthias walked around to explore the area and made these beautiful pictures of ibexes. In the course of our trip we could see quite a few of the 4000 ibexes which live in Gran Paradiso National Park. However, it was not always as easy as today to spot an ibex. In the 19th century the Alpine ibex got almost extinct (mainly due to hunting) and only survived in the Gran Paradiso area. Victor Emmanuel II, who later became King of Italy, declared Gran Paradiso a Royal Hunting Reserve. He also ordered numerous paths to be built in the area, which are still in use today, e.g., by us on our trip.

























Enjoying dinner

























After the sun went down it quickly got cold and we therefore hit our sleeping bags very early.

Gran Paradiso - Day 2

Today we had another climb on our agenda, since we had a few hours left before Jakob, Stefan and Sarah arrive for our Gran Paradiso hike. Matthi, Andi and I drove to Donnas and from there via a very winding road, through vineyards to Albard Bard where we had to leave our car. From there it took as about 40 minutes by foot to the start of our climbing route.





During the ascent we had a great view on the Fort of Bard. The fort was built in the 11th century as a toll barrier and extended in the 13th century due to its strategic importance.



The route had three, very easy pitches, again on gneiss. For Andi it was the first multi pitch route he climbed, but he managed it very well :-).









Our climb (marked in blue)



On the way down we stopped in Donnas to take pictures of the old houses.







From there we drove to Pont where we met Jakob, Stefan and Sarah. From there we started our hike around Grand Paradiso. The first lag was from Pont to Rifugio Città di Chivasso (2604 m), which is located slightly north of Col de Nivolet, and took us about 2 1/2 hours. Our arrival at the rifugio led to quite some confusion. Since a couple with the same last name had reserved just a few days ago, the hut warden was not sure about our reservation anymore and called all surrounding huts to find out whether they knew about a group of six people with the respective last name. However, no one has heard about such a group (which was not a surprise since we planned to stay the forthcoming nights in bivouacs), and the hut warden thought that our reservation is a misunderstanding. When we arrived at the hut he was entirely confused, but fortunately it was no problem to get a room and have hot dinner :-).



On the way up to Rifugio Città di Chivasso





Decayed stone houses could be frequently seen on our hike



View from Rifugio Città di Chivasso

Gran Paradiso - Day 1

Due to bad weather in the Tyrol we started our trip to Gran Paradiso one day earlier than initially planned. We started very early in the morning and picked up Andi. We were very lucky with the traffic and progressed very quickly. Entering the Valley of Aosta it became more
mountainous. The Valley of Aosta is enframed by some of the Alps' most famous mountains / mountain ranges like Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, Matterhorn and Gran Paradiso. On our drive we could also see many stone houses with roofs of stone tiles which are quite typical for the area. Moreover, we could see many old churches and medieval castles. Around 12 we arrived at our hotel in the center of Aosta.

After a short lunch break we drove to Pontey (near Nus just a few kilometers from Aosta) to climb. The directions we had were very rough and it took as a while to find the climbing area. Pontey offers about a dozen, mostly rather easy routes on gneiss. We had a lot of fun climbing there and enjoyed the afternoon a lot.











In the evening we strolled through the streets of Aosta where we could see many remnants of Aosta's Roman history (e.g., Arch of Augustus, Roman Theatre, Porta Pretoria) and had a nice dinner.